User Comments - ruyide

Posted on: Catching a Train

Thank you. I thought it might be the first option which is very simple and easy to remember.

Posted on: Catching a Train

What is the name for the most basic grade of ticket which just allows you to get on the train and, if you're lucky, find some odd corner on the floor where you can spend the entire journey?

This is what I had to buy on my only (so far) Chinese train journey between Taian and Beijing during the national holiday in October 2007. Great timing on my part but could not be helped.

On this occasion I was resigned to eight hours of exquisite discomfort, wedged into a pocket of space between the carriage toilet and the exit with no room even to swing the proverbial cat.

Fortunately, a lady who was getting off at Jinan, about an hour down the line saw my predicament as a genuine 'lao' laowai (I was well over sixty) and offered me her seat. Needless to say I accepted with alacrity and spent the rest of the journey in relative comfort.

I have to say this was only one of several occasions during my five weeks in China that people showed me similar spontaneous acts of kindness and left me with warm memories of my stay.

Posted on: "Thinking" in Chinese: 觉得 (juéde), 认为 (rènwéi) and 以为 (yǐwéi)

thank you

Posted on: "Thinking" in Chinese: 觉得 (juéde), 认为 (rènwéi) and 以为 (yǐwéi)

Where exactly do 'ganjue', 'xiang' and 'kan' fit into the family of 'thinking-feeling' words?

Posted on: Endless Summer

Now that there are so many 'qing wens' can you please introduce a reference number search system (like the existing one for lessons) that that will direct you straight to a particular 'qing wen'.

Posted on: The Attitude Pattern (yǒu shénme... 有什么...)

Sorry - I don't think I made my query very clear but thanks for the reply. I have done some more research on this and the suggested answers seem to be as follows:

What do you want? - Ni yao shenme?

Do you want anything else? - Ni yao shenme ma? (which, of course, could also be translated as hai yao bie de ma?).

Posted on: The Attitude Pattern (yǒu shénme... 有什么...)

I have come across MA (question particle) at the end of a question which also contains SHENME. What exactly is the reason for this?

Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport

ditto

Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport

thanks for the elucidation

Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport

Is 'mafan ni le' interchangeable with 'xinku ni le' and is 'shi bu shi' interchangeable with 'ba' when seeking confirmation of a supposition?